Do Not Fall For The Baseball Captains (Victoria and Elijah) novel Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Caleb’s POV

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The aroma of dinner hit me the second I made it past the hallway. It was rich, savory, and filled the air, a telltale sign that Nova was the one in the kitchen.

Nurse Sarah meant well, but her cooking tasted like cardboard compared to whatever was simmering on the stove right now.

I leaned on my crutches, moving forward one careful step at a time.

The wheelchair was finally tucked away in the deep closet downstairs, and the stiff brace around my neck was gone, leaving me feeling more like an actual person than I had in days.

As I got closer to the kitchen island, my thoughts drifted to Nova Chamberlain. She had originally come into my life just to be a study partner, but somehow, she had grown under my skin. She became a constant, indispensable friend.

Aside from Victoria, Nova was the only girl who had ever looked completely past my status as a rich kid, a star athlete, or a handsome guy. She had stood by me through the absolute worst parts of my accident and recovery.

Lexi, on the other hand, hadn’t called once. She hadn’t visited, hadn’t sent a text, nothing. I never had incredibly high hopes for someone like her, but the total silence proved how completely heartless she actually was.

She was a cruel person, plain and simple, and the realization left a bitter feeling in my chest.

A soft giggle echoed from the kitchen, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I paused, furrowing my brow. A short, repetitive song was looping over and over from a phone speaker, the kind of audio people used for viral clips online.

“Oh my god, this is so cute,” Nova murmured to herself, completely focused on her screen. “This is literally the sweetest thing I’ve seen all year.”

When my crutches clicked against the hardwood floor as I entered the room, she instinctively turned around. Her blue eyes went wide.

“Oh my god, Caleb!” She practically dropped her phone onto the marble counter, rushing over to catch my arm. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have helped you out.”

I chuckled, balancing on the padded underarm supports.

“I’m not a vegetable, Nova. I can actually walk now.”

“But still,” she insisted, giving me that familiar, stern look as she guided me toward one of the tall barstools at the island. “Until you’re perfectly healed, you shouldn’t be pushing yourself. All it takes is one slip.”

She helped me settle onto the seat, carefully taking my crutches and leaning them safely against the edge of the counter.

“You actually came out at the perfect time,” she added, her mood shifting into something bright and cheerful as she turned back toward the stove. “I just finished putting everything together.”

She turned to the stove and grabbed a wooden spoon to stir a pot of thick, rich tomato stew that was bubbling softly.

“I made the beef curry the way you like it, with the potatoes cut small so they absorb the spice,” she said, using the tip of the spoon to point toward a covered ceramic dish beside the burner.

“And I actually used real ginger and garlic this time, not the powdered stuff. Let’s just say Nurse Sarah’s spice rack is officially

a crime scene now.”

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Chapter 120

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She lifted a glass lid from another pot, letting a burst of fragrant, seasoned steam escape into the air, and gave me a bright. proud look over her shoulder.

I just sat there, quiet, watching her navigate the kitchen with a certain type of familiarity that made the whole place feel

warmer.

The overhead lights caught the gold in her blonde hair, falling across her face and highlighting the striking, clear blue of her

eyes.

When she laughed at her own joke about the spice rack, her smile did that thing where it completely took over her face, the kind of look that made it impossible to hold onto a bad mood when you were around her.

On top of everything, she was sharper than most of our professors, always reading three books at once and catching things in our study sessions before I even noticed them.

Nova could sing, too, something I’d discovered by pure accident one night when a massive rainstorm forced her to sleep over at my place.

I’d heard her voice drifting down the hall from the living room, and it was one of the most stunning things I’d ever listened to. When I asked her about it the next morning, she denied it.

I didn’t know why, but over time, I noticed she carried some deep insecurities, especially about her body.

She honestly thought she was fat, which made no sense to me. Every time she criticized herself, I found myself wondering if we were even looking at the same person.

She carried most of her weight in her hips, thighs, and… yeah, her ass. I probably shouldn’t be noticing that.

Then again, it’d be hard for anyone not to. I just kept those thoughts to myself because the last thing I wanted was to sound like some creep.

To me, there was nothing to hide. That wasn’t “extra” weight. It was just her. She was beautiful, but she kept burying herself in oversized hoodies and baggy jeans, like she was trying to disappear.

Nova turned around with a plate, catching me looking her way. I quickly cleared my throat and averted my eyes, pretending to study the marble countertop.

She set the hot food down in front of me and took the stool directly opposite,

“So,” I started, picking up my fork. “What were you giggling about over here?”

Her cheeks instantly took on a bright pink tint. She hesitated, then picked up her phone and slid it across the marble toward

“Look. Your best friend is trending everywhere.”

The second she mentioned Victoria, I grabbed the phone with an uncharacteristic burst of speed, my eyes locking onto the

screen.

It was a video of Elijah and Victoria, and the view count was skyrocketing by the second. I stared, entirely stunned, a profound sense of shock freezing me in place.

The camera caught Elijah down on his knees under a heavy downpour of rain, completely soaked, looking up at Victoria while she cried.

Even through the blurry, rain-streaked quality of the clip, he looked completely broken, entirely devastated.

A tight, crushing sensation flared in the center of my chest. Seeing him like that made me realize a truth I have been ignoring.

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Chapter 120

Victoria had never been faking her bond with him. If there was ever a doubt in my mind about their relationship being fake. this video smashed it.

My ego took a massive hit right then and there. For fifteen years, Victoria had been the one girl who stayed by my side. completely devoted to me.

I had always known she had a crush on me. I’d once read her diary once when we were younger, confirming every single detail of her feelings.

But instead of acknowledging her, treating her right or making it clear that we could never be more than friends, I had preyed on those feelings.

I used her loyalty to benefit my own arrogance, keeping her on a leash whenever it suited me.

In my mind, according to my own selfish script, she was supposed to wait around forever. The narcissistic part of me had assumed she belonged to me, but she had completely moved on.

Her heart had closed toward me, that part of her soul locked away for good, and everything left between us was strictly and coldly platonic.

And out of everyone in the world, it had to be Elijah Carter.

The worst part was, I knew Elijah truly cared about her.

After my accident, when my life at home became its own kind of hell, he showed up for me. I never saw that coming.

He stood by Victoria through everything. And because I mattered to her, he looked out for me too.

There was a time when nobody else was around, and Elijah was the only one there. He helped me to the bathroom because I couldn’t stand on my own.

I remembered him taking me outside in my wheelchair, pushing me around the neighborhood while we talked about nothing in particular. He never acted like it was a chore.

Looking after me was never really about me. It was about her.

Victoria probably wouldn’t have even realized her own feelings if I hadn’t given her the exact space she needed to move on.

I had been so busy focusing on a witch like Lexi that I let the real one fade away. I let her slip right through my fingers.

A burning heat rushed to my eyes, tears boiling right on the edge of falling, I felt entirely defeated, devastated by the reality of my own choices.

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